Cornel West has just accused President Joe Biden of having "contributed to a crime against humanity," the New York Post reports.
The 70-year-old West is running as a third-party presidential candidate for 2024.
It is clear that the 70-year-old West - a well-known progressive activist and professor - aligns more with the political left than he does with the political right. But, West has also demonstrated a willingness, at times - such as here - to criticize the Democratic Party.
It is because of this fact - the fact that he does not fit into either of America's political parties that well - that West has positioned himself as a third-party presidential candidate, rather than, say, join the race for the Republican or Democratic 2024 presidential primary.
Recently, the Post conducted an interview with West, and it was during this interview that West accused Biden of having "contributed to a crime against humanity."
"Well, I think you’ll think Joe Biden contributed to a crime against humanity when he became the architect of the mass incarceration regime in the 1990s," West told the Post.
Here, West, according to the Post, is referring to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that Biden sponsored back in the early 1990s when he was a U.S. Senator from Delaware. The Post reports, "The bill authorized the hiring of 100,000 new police officers and allocated $9.7 billion for prisons."
West said, "I’ve taught in prison for 41 years, and the level of barbarity in our prisons has something to do with that crime bill that he put forward. Black folks are low priority."
West went on to give Biden a grade of "C-" on Biden's performance, as a member of the U.S. government, with regard to race. There is no doubt that Biden would disagree with this, as his performance on race is something that he usually touts.
West, during his interview with the Post, did not stop at accusing Biden of having "contributed to a crime against humanity." West went on to criticize the Biden administration as well as Biden.
With regard to Biden, West joined in with those who have been calling attention to the fact that Biden is noticeably aging, which is not a good attribute for a U.S. president, let alone one who is running for reelection.
"It’s very clear that his cognitive powers are in decline," West said, referring to Biden.
Regarding the Biden administration, West criticized the lack of "accountability and transparency." West also criticized the weaponization of federal intelligence agencies.
It is in these areas that Republicans would agree with a lot of what West has to say.
